DifferentBand

Albania

2005-04-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

Officially Republic of Albania, Albanian Shqipëria, or Republika e Shqipërisë, country located in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula on the Strait of Otranto, the southern entrance to the Adriatic Sea. It encompasses an area of 11,100 square miles (28,748 square kilometres), with a maximum length from north to south of about 210 miles (340 kilometres) and a maximum width of about 95 miles. It is bounded to the northwest by Montenegro, to the northeast by the Kosovo region

Bulgaris, Eugenius

2005-04-04T15:17:00.000-07:00

Having studied philosophy and theology at the University of Padua, Italy, a centre of Greek culture, Bulgaris

Suleja

2005-04-04T03:04:00.000-07:00

The emirate's wooded savanna area of about 1,150 square miles (2,980 square km) originally included four small Koro chiefdoms that paid tribute to the Hausa kingdom of Zazzau.

Châtelet

2005-04-03T09:56:00.000-07:00

In Paris, the principal seat of common-law jurisdiction under the French monarchy from the Middle Ages to the French Revolution. Located on the right bank of the Seine River, the building was originally a small fort that guarded the northern approach to the Île de la Cité. Frequently rebuilt, it was known as the Grand Châtelet to distinguish it from the Petit Châtelet

Aisén

2005-04-02T06:19:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Aysén , in full Aisén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo región, southern Chile, bounded on the east by Argentina and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Aisén includes the Chonos Archipelago, the Taitao Peninsula, and the mainland between the Palena River in the north and O'Higgins Lake in the south. It is divided into the provinces of Aisén, General Carrera, Coihaique, and Capitán Pratt. In the south and east the Andes Mountains

China, Growth of the economy

2005-04-02T00:33:00.000-08:00

The 8th and 9th centuries were a period of growth and prosperity. The gradual movement of the population away from the north, with its harsh climate and dry farming, into the more fertile and productive south meant a great proportional increase in productivity. The south still had large areas of virgin land. Fukien, for example, was still only marginally settled along

Arcaro, Eddie

2005-04-01T18:41:00.000-08:00

Byname of George Edward Arcaro American jockey who was the first to ride five Kentucky Derby winners and two U.S. Triple Crown champions (winners of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes). In 31 years of riding Thoroughbreds (1931–61), he won 549 stakes events, a total of 4,779 races, and more than $30,000,000 in purses. On Feb. 20, 1958, at Santa Anita Race Track in California, he became

Heterogeneous Reaction

2005-04-01T05:39:00.000-08:00

Any of a class of chemical reactions in which the reactants are components of two or more phases (solid and gas, solid and liquid, two immiscible liquids) or in which one or more reactants undergo chemical change at an interface, e.g., on the surface of a solid catalyst. The reaction of metals with acids, the electrochemical changes that occur in batteries and electrolytic

Manchester

2005-04-01T02:28:00.000-08:00

Urban town (township), Hartford county, central Connecticut, U.S. It lies east of Hartford on the Hockanum River. The area was settled in 1672, when it was purchased from the Mohegan Indians by the Puritan clergyman Thomas Hooker and his company. Originally a part of Hartford (after 1694 in East Hartford) and called the Five-Mile Tract, it was organized as an ecclesiastical society

Chianciano Terme

2005-03-30T07:29:00.000-08:00

Town and mineral spa, Siena provincia, Toscana (Tuscany) regione, central Italy. It lies at an elevation of 1,500 feet (450 m), just southeast of Montepulciano. The mineral springs, which have been frequented since Etruscan times, are located about 1.25 miles (2 km) from the town; they are a popular tourist attraction, and there are numerous hotels for the accommodation of visitors. The town

Philosophy

2005-03-29T06:56:00.000-08:00

The subject of philosophy is treated in a number of articles.

China, Decline of the aristocracy

2005-03-29T00:29:00.000-08:00

The late T'ang period saw the beginnings of social changes that did not reach their culmination until the 11th century. The most important of these was the change in the nature of the ruling class. Although from the early T'ang era the examination system had facilitated the recruitment into the higher ranks of the bureaucracy of persons from lesser aristocratic families,

Staff

2005-03-28T19:33:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Stave, in the notation of Western music, five parallel horizontal lines that, with a clef, indicate the pitch of musical notes. The invention of the staff is traditionally ascribed to Guido of Arezzo in about the year 1000, although there are earlier manuscripts in which neumes (q.v.; signs from which musical notes evolved) are arranged around one or two lines in order to orient the

Fencing

2005-03-27T16:06:00.000-08:00

Organized sport involving the use of the sword—épée, foil, or sabre—for attack and defense according to set movements and rules. Although the use of swords dates to prehistoric times and swordplay to ancient civilizations, the organized sport of fencing began only at the end of the 19th century. For information on the art of Japanese sword fighting, see kendo.

Pacific Mountain System

2005-03-26T04:05:00.000-08:00

Series of mountain ranges that stretches along the Pacific coast of North America from northern British Columbia (Canada) to northwestern Mexico. They run for some 4,500 miles (7,250 kilometres) in the United States and extend northward into Canada for another 1,000 miles. The ranges may be divided into eight sections. Roughly from north to south they are the Coast Mountains of British

Ma-ubin

2005-03-25T21:43:00.000-08:00

Town, southern Myanmar (Burma). The town is a river port on the west bank of the main Irrawaddy distributary and is protected by flood-control embankments. It is linked with Yangon (Rangoon), 40 miles (65 km) east, by the Twante Canal and is the site of a diesel electric plant. The surrounding area occupies a largely swampy portion of the Irrawaddy River delta. It has a southern coastline

Ma'at

2005-03-23T14:04:00.000-08:00

The ceremony of judgment of the dead (called the “Judgment of Osiris,” named for Osiris, the god of the dead) was believed to focus upon the weighing of the heart of the deceased in a scale balanced by Ma'at (or her

Iron Processing

2005-03-23T07:18:00.000-08:00

Iron (Fe) is a relatively dense metal with a silvery white appearance and distinctive magnetic properties. It constitutes 5 percent by weight of the Earth's crust, and it is the

Pragmatism

2005-03-23T04:47:00.000-08:00

Pragmatism has been vulnerable to certain criticisms. It has often been portrayed as a rationalization of the American business ethos—a portraiture perhaps inspired, but not by any scrutiny of the writings of the philosophers themselves. Similarly, the Pragmatic theory of truth has been assailed. Concerning an idea or belief, James had held that one can say: “ ‘It is

Coral Gables

2005-03-23T03:02:00.000-08:00

City, Miami-Dade county, southeastern Florida, U.S., on Biscayne Bay and adjoining Miami (northeast). George E. Merrick developed the site (beginning about 1920) from a nucleus of his family's 160 acres (65 hectares) of citrus and farmland and named it for the family's house of coral rock walls and gables. It is a well-planned residential area, noted for its landscaped plazas and streets

Biblical Literature, Zephaniah

2005-03-22T23:52:00.000-08:00

The Book of Zephaniah, the ninth book of the Twelve (Minor) Prophets, is written in three chapters. Composed by the prophet Zephaniah in the latter part of the 7th century BCE, the book is an attack against corruption of worship in Judah, probably before the great Deuteronomic reform took place. Zephaniah attacked the religious syncretism that had become established, especially

Koss, Johann Olav

2005-03-22T20:23:00.000-08:00

As a youngster Koss showed little promise as a skater, but he was determined to excel in the sport and was passionate

Hancock, Langley George

2005-03-22T15:06:00.000-08:00

Hancock began prospecting while managing his family's sheep station

Syrian Wars

2005-03-22T13:08:00.000-08:00

(3rd century BC), five conflicts fought between the leading Hellenistic states, chiefly the Seleucid kingdom and Ptolemaic Egypt, and, in a lesser way, Macedonia. The complex and devious diplomacy that surrounded the wars was characteristic of the Hellenistic monarchies. The main issue in dispute between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies was control of southern Syria.

Jouve, Pierre-jean

2005-03-20T13:30:00.000-08:00

Prevented by ill health from serving in World War

Cyprian, Saint

2005-03-19T18:36:00.000-08:00

Educated in Greece, Cyprian was appointed by Constantinople to be metropolitan of Kiev and Lithuania in 1375 and then of Moscow in 1381. In 1382 Cyprian was forced into exile by the prince of Moscow, Dmitry, who rejected all appointments made by Constantinople. Eight years later, following the succession of

Quant, Mary

2005-03-19T06:21:00.000-08:00

Quant attended Goldsmith's College of Art, London, and spent two years designing hats for the Danish milliner Erik. In partnership with her husband and

Ushuaia

2005-03-19T02:03:00.000-08:00

The site was first settled by Wasti H. Stirling, an English missionary, in 1870. In 1884 an Argentine naval base was established, and in 1893, after the archipelago was partitioned between Argentina and

Chatoyance

2005-03-17T23:13:00.000-08:00

The property of some minerals to exhibit a wavy, luminous band with a silky lustre, reminiscent of the eye of a cat, in the centre of a cabochon-cut (polished, with a rounded, unfaceted convex surface) stone. The effect, caused by parallel fibres or by oriented imperfections or inclusions within the stone, is typical of cat's-eye, tigereye, satin spar, and bronzite. The fibres,

Cinéma Vérité

2005-03-17T16:34:00.000-08:00

(French: “truth cinema”), French film movement of the 1960s that showed people in everyday situations with authentic dialogue and naturalness of action. Rather than following the usual technique of shooting sound and pictures together, the film maker first tapes actual conversations, interviews, and opinions. After selecting the best material, he films

Wright Flyer Of 1903

2005-03-17T14:26:00.000-08:00

First powered airplane to demonstrate sustained flight under the full control of the pilot. Designed and built by Wilbur and Orville Wright in Dayton, Ohio, it was assembled in the autumn of 1903 at a camp at the base of the Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk, a village on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. After a first attempt failed on December 14, the machine was flown four times

Bark Painting

2005-03-17T13:56:00.000-08:00

Also called Tapa, or Bark Cloth, nonwoven fabric decorated with figurative and abstract designs usually applied by scratching or by painting. The basic clothlike material, produced from the inner bark, or bast, of certain trees (see bast fibre), is made by stripping off the bast, soaking it, and beating it to make the fibres interlace and to reduce thickness. The most popular material is the inner bark

Minatitlán

2005-03-16T06:08:00.000-08:00

City and river port, southeastern Veracruz state, south central Mexico. It is on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec on the Río Coatzacoalcos, 20 mi (32 km) from its mouth on the Gulf of Mexico and 210 ft (64 m) above sea level. When founded in 1822 as Paso de la Fabrica, the settlement's inhabitants included North Americans, French, and Germans. The colony did not prosper until oil was discovered in the

Portugal, Conquest and exploration

2005-03-16T00:41:00.000-08:00

The idea of expansion into Africa was a logical result of the completion of the Reconquest in the peninsula, and the conquest of Ceuta in North Africa (1415) probably provided the impulse toward further expansion. The simple idea of fighting the Muslims on their own soil was linked with more complicated motives: the desire to explore in a scientific sense, the hope of finding

Plateau

2005-03-15T16:38:00.000-08:00

Although plateaus stand at higher elevation than surrounding

Iran, The growth of social discontent

2005-03-15T03:50:00.000-08:00

Petroleum revenues continued to fuel Iran's economy in the 1970s, and in 1973 Iran concluded a new 20-year oil agreement with the consortium of Western firms led by British Petroleum. This agreement gave direct control of Iranian oil fields to the government under the auspices of the NIOC and initiated a standard seller-buyer relationship between the NIOC and the oil companies.

Height, Dorothy

2005-03-14T23:59:00.000-08:00

Reared in Rankin, Pennsylvania, Height graduated in 1933 from New York University with both bachelor's and master's degrees in educational psychology.

Yerby, Frank

2005-03-14T22:33:00.000-08:00

Yerby's story “Health Card” won the O. Henry Memorial Award for best first published short story in 1944. In 1946 his first novel, The Foxes of Harrow, was an immediate success. His novels are action-packed, usually featuring a strong hero in an earlier period. The stories unfold in colourful language

Mau Mau

2005-03-14T00:19:00.000-08:00

Militant African nationalist movement that originated in the 1950s among the Kikuyu people of Kenya. The Mau Mau (origin of the name is uncertain) advocated violent resistance to British domination in Kenya; the movement was especially associated with the ritual oaths employed by leaders of the Kikuyu Central Association to promote unity in the independence

Ikorodu

2005-03-12T23:50:00.000-08:00

Town, Lagos state, southwestern Nigeria. It lies near the Lagos Lagoon, on the Bight of Benin, 14 miles (23 km) northwest of Lagos. A traditional settlement of the Awori people (a subgroup of the Yoruba), it became important in the mid-19th century as a trading post of the Remo (Ijebu-Remo) kingdom on the trade route from Lagos to Ibadan. During the Ibadan-Ijaiye wars (1860–65), the Ikorodu traders,

Cambrian Period

2005-03-12T11:46:00.000-08:00

Earliest time division of the Paleozoic Era, extending from about 540 to 505 million years ago. The Cambrian Period is often divided into the Early Cambrian Epoch (540 to 520 million years ago), the Middle Cambrian Epoch (520 to 512 million years ago), and the Late Cambrian Epoch (512 to 505 million years ago). Rocks formed or deposited during this time are assigned to the Cambrian System, which was named

Tlingit

2005-03-11T04:12:00.000-08:00

Northernmost Indians of the North Pacific Coast of North America, inhabiting the islands and coastal lands of southern Alaska from Yakutat Bay to Cape Fox. They were speakers of the Tlingit language, which is believed to be related to Athabascan. They were divided into 14 territorial groups, or tribes. According to tradition, some of their ancestors came from the south;

Vinh

2005-03-11T03:45:00.000-08:00

City, north-central Vietnam, located on the Ca River delta, 160 miles (260 km) south of Hanoi. The Ca River enters the Gulf of Tonkin just northeast of Vinh. An important trade centre for the surrounding region, the city is the focus of a densely populated agricultural area. It is also the site of an electric power plant and has chemical and textile industries. Manganese and phosphates

Maha-sivaratri

2005-03-10T07:12:00.000-08:00

(Sanskrit: “Great Night of Siva”), the most important sectarian festival of the year for devotees of the Hindu god Siva. The 14th day of the dark half of each lunar month is specially sacred to Siva, but when it occurs in the month of Magha (January-February) and, to a lesser extent, in the month of Phalguna (February-March), it is a day of particular rejoicing. The preceding day the participant

Nebula, Supergiant nebulae

2005-03-09T18:46:00.000-08:00

The most energetic diffuse nebulae in the Galaxy are revealed only by radio telescope—they are so heavily obscured by dust that they are inconspicuous optically. These nebulae have over 100 times more ionizations per second than does the Orion Nebula, too many to be provided by a single star (unless there are stars more luminous than any known within the Galaxy). Indeed,

Pinar Del Río

2005-03-09T15:26:00.000-08:00

Provincia, western Cuba, bounded on the north by the Gulf of Mexico, on the west by the Yucatán Channel, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, on the southeast by the Gulf of Batabanó, and on the east by La Habana province. Low mountain ranges, including the Sierra de los Órganos and the Sierra del Rosario, form the backbone of the territory, which has an area of 4,218 square miles (10,925 square

German Literature, Bourgeois Realism

2005-03-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

The deaths of Hegel in 1831 and of Goethe in 1832 released many German writers from the feeling that they stood in the shadow of great men. A new group of writers, only very loosely connected, began to emerge who felt that the aesthetic models of the age of Goethe could be laid aside in favour of a distinctly political form of literature. Inspired by the July Revolution in France

Palatine

2005-03-08T19:57:00.000-08:00

During the

Margaret I

2005-03-07T13:06:00.000-08:00

Regent of Denmark (from 1375), of Norway (from 1380), and of Sweden (from 1389), who, by diplomacy and war, pursued dynastic policies that led to the Kalmar Union (1397), which united Denmark, Norway, and Sweden until 1523 and Denmark and Norway until 1814.

Ghent

2005-03-07T11:42:00.000-08:00

One of Belgium's oldest cities and the historic capital of Flanders, Ghent was powerful, well-organized in its wealthy trade

Kaolinite

2005-03-07T00:32:00.000-08:00

Kaolinite, nacrite, and dickite occur as minute, sometimes elongated, hexagonal

Soto

2005-03-06T16:19:00.000-08:00

The sect was founded in China in the 9th century by Liang-chieh and Pen-chi, where it was known as Ts'ao-tung (after its monastic centres on the mountains Ts'ao and Tung). It was transmitted to Japan by Dogen, who founded the Eihei Temple

Ashta Pradhan

2005-03-06T11:45:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Asta Pradhad (Marathi: “Council of Eight”), administrative and advisory council set up by the Indian Hindu Maratha leader Sivaji (d. 1680), which contributed to his successful military attacks on the Muslim Mughal Empire and to the good government of the territory over which he established his rule. The council's senior member, the peshwa, or mukhya pradhan, was in charge of general administration

Henry Viii

2005-03-06T10:10:00.000-08:00

King of England (1509–47), who presided over the beginnings of the English Renaissance and the English Reformation. His six wives were, successively, Catherine of Aragon (the mother of the future queen Mary I), Anne Boleyn (the mother of the future queen Elizabeth I), Jane Seymour (the mother of Henry's successor, Edward VI), Anne of Cleves, Catherine

Dachstein

2005-03-05T15:46:00.000-08:00

Mountain massif of the northern Alps, Austria, on the borders of the Bundesländer (federal provinces) Oberösterreich, Salzburg, and Steiermark, reaching its maximum elevation at Hoher Dachstein (9,826 ft [2,995 m]). Among the massif's higher reaches are the easternmost and northernmost glaciers of the Alps, the largest of which is the Hallstättergletscher, 2 sq mi (5.3 sq km) in area. The

Sorolla Y Bastida, Joaquín

2005-03-04T23:41:00.000-08:00

Sorolla was from a poor family and was orphaned at age two. He displayed an early talent and was admitted to the Academy of San Carlos in Valencia at

Taranto, Gulf Of

2005-03-04T19:32:00.000-08:00

Latin Sinus Tarentinus, Italian Golfo Di Taranto, arm, about 85 mi (140 km) long and wide, of the Ionian Sea in southern Italy. Lying between the Capes Santa Maria di Leuca (northeast) and Colonne (southwest), it forms the hollow in front of the heel of the Italian “boot.” Feeder streams include the Sinni, Agri, Basento, and Bradano. Main economic activities are the oyster and mussel industries and the exporting of wine, olive oil, fruits,

Iris

2005-03-04T02:38:00.000-08:00

Genus of about 300 species of plants in the family Iridaceae including some of the world's most popular and varied garden flowers, centred in the North Temperate Zones. Some of its most handsome species, however, are native to the Mediterranean and central Asian areas. The iris is the fleur-de-lis of the French royalist standard. It is a popular subject of

Chandragiri

2005-03-03T08:37:00.000-08:00

Town in southeastern Andhra Pradesh state, southeastern India. It lies about 80 miles (130 km) northwest of Madras. Chandragiri is historically important for its connection with the Aravidu dynasty of Vijayanagar in South India. When the dynasty's empire was overthrown at the Battle of Talikota (1565) and the great city of Vijayanagar was taken by the Deccan allied Muslim army, the

Indonesia, Flag Of

2005-03-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

The flag, a simple design of red and white stripes, has a long history. It was first associated with the Majapahit empire, which flourished from the 13th to the 16th century

Alemanni

2005-03-02T02:12:00.000-08:00

Also spelled Alamanni, or Alamani, a Germanic people first mentioned in connection with the Roman attack on them in AD 213. In the following decades, their pressure on the Roman provinces became severe; they occupied the Agri Decumates c. 260, and late in the 5th century they expanded into Alsace and northern Switzerland, establishing the German language in those regions. In 496 they were conquered by Clovis and incorporated

Mapu, Abraham

2005-03-01T21:23:00.000-08:00

Author of the first Hebrew novel, Ahavat Ziyyon (1853; Annou: Prince and Peasant), an idyllic historical romance set in the days of the prophet Isaiah. Couched in florid biblical language, it artfully depicts pastoral life in ancient Israel; the book attained immediate popularity

Wieschaus, Eric F.

2005-02-28T17:29:00.000-08:00

American developmental biologist who shared the 1995 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, with geneticists Edward B. Lewis and Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard (qq.v.), for discovering the genetic controls of early embryonic development. Working together with Nüsslein-Volhard, Wieschaus expanded upon the innovative work of Lewis, who likewise

Europa

2005-02-28T14:35:00.000-08:00

In Greek mythology, the daughter either of Phoenix or of Agenor, king of Phoenicia. The beauty of Europa inspired the love of Zeus, who approached her in the form of a white bull and carried her away from Phoenicia to Crete. There she bore Zeus three sons: King Minos of Crete, King Rhadamanthus of the Cyclades Islands, and, according to some legends, Prince Sarpedon of Lycia.

Amory, Cleveland

2005-02-28T13:58:00.000-08:00

American writer and animal rights advocate (b. Sept. 2, 1917, Nahant, Mass.--d. Oct. 14, 1998, New York, N.Y.), was the author of a number of best-selling books and founder (1967) of the Fund for Animals, a New York-based animal-protection agency, which he served as unpaid president for 31 years. Amory's writing career began in his senior year in college when he became president of the Harvard Crimson. He graduated

Berenice

2005-02-27T13:05:00.000-08:00

The eldest daughter of Herod Agrippa I by his wife Cypros, Berenice was married at a young age to Marcus, the son of Alexander the Alabarch. Before consummating the marriage, Marcus died, and Berenice then married Herod, king of Chalcis, with whom she had two sons. Following

Inter-american Regional Organization Of Workers

2005-02-26T21:18:00.000-08:00

Spanish Organización Regional Interamericana de Trabajadores (ORIT) ,Latin-American labour union federation that was established in 1951 as a regional organization for the Latin-American members of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, which had been founded in 1949 primarily by the American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) of the United States and the Trades Union Congress of Great Britain.

Kael, Pauline

2005-02-25T13:23:00.000-08:00

Kael graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1940. For a number of years she made a precarious living with various minor jobs. She had been an avid fan of the movies since childhood, and in 1953 she published her first

Wrexham

2005-02-24T15:14:00.000-08:00

The town's name is Anglo-Saxon in origin. Edward I (king of England 1272–1307) granted the town to Earl Warenne. Wrexham was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century, when John (“Iron

Claremont

2005-02-24T03:46:00.000-08:00

City, Sullivan county, western New Hampshire, U.S., on the Sugar River near its junction with the Connecticut River. Settled in 1762, Claremont was organized as a town in 1764 and was probably named for the duke of Newcastle's country estate in England. Waterpower for early industry was provided by the Sugar River, and completion of the Concord and Claremont Railroad (1871–72) gave impetus

Wen-wang

2005-02-23T16:26:00.000-08:00

Wen was the ruler of Chou, one of the semibarbaric states on the western frontier of China, long a battleground between the civilized Chinese and nomadic invaders. By 1144 he had assumed the title Hsi Po (King of the West) and had begun

Wanaka Lake

2005-02-23T00:50:00.000-08:00

Lake in west-central South Island, New Zealand. The lake occupies 75 square miles (193 square km) of a valley that is dammed by a moraine (glacial debris) and that lies at the eastern foot of the Southern Alps. The lake's surface is 915 feet (280 m) above sea level. It is probably more than 1,000 feet (300 m) deep. The lake drains a basin of 982 square miles (2,543 square km) and is fed by the Makarora (north) and Matukituki

Ecotourism: The New Face Of Travel

2005-02-22T23:24:00.000-08:00

The latest trend in tourism is travel that combines preserving the natural world and sustaining the well-being of the human cultures that inhabit it. Known as ecotourism, the industry was unknown a decade ago yet now receives rave reviews from environmentally conscious travelers who immerse themselves in pristine places and authentic experiences. Unlike traditional

Bruegel, Jan, The Elder

2005-02-22T18:02:00.000-08:00

The second son of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, born just before his father's death, he was reared by a grandmother and learned his art in Antwerp. In his youth, he went to Italy, where he painted under the patronage of Cardinal Federigo Borromeo, and later, in 1610, he was

Robert-houdin, Jean-eugène

2005-02-22T17:20:00.000-08:00

Original name Jean-Eugène Robert French magician who is considered to be the father of modern conjuring. He was the first magician to use electricity; he improved the signalling method for the “thought transference” trick; and he exposed “fakes” and magicians who relied on supernatural explanations for their feats. Although he did not do away with apparatus, he

Coruña, La

2005-02-21T20:48:00.000-08:00

Province, in the autonomous community (region) of Galicia, northwestern Spain. It was formed in 1833 from part of the captaincy general and former kingdom of Galicia. Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (west) and the Cantabrian Sea (north), it has the highest rainfall of any Spanish province. Its interior is crossed by the Galician mountains; the coastline, rocky and with deep indentations,

Seymour, David

2005-02-20T03:47:00.000-08:00

Seymour studied graphic arts in Warsaw and in 1931 went to Paris to study at the Sorbonne, where he became interested in photography. During this period he befriended

African Literature, Xhosa

2005-02-19T20:43:00.000-08:00

As in Zulu literature, the themes of the heroic past and of the opposition between beneficent tradition and harsh modernity are much in evidence. The question of how best to come to terms with change is also central in Xhosa literature. Much important early writing, expressing Xhosa aspirations and views on Christianity and tradition, appeared in the Xhosa-language

Uzbekistan

2005-02-19T19:51:00.000-08:00

Officially Republic of Uzbekistan , Uzbek Uzbekiston , or Uzbekistan Respublikasi country in Central Asia. It lies mainly between two major rivers, the Syr Darya (ancient Jaxartes River) on the northeast and the Amu Darya (ancient Oxus River) on the southwest, though they only partly form its boundaries. Uzbekistan is bordered by Kazakstan on the northwest and north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan on the east and southeast, Afghanistan on the south, and

Simenon, Georges

2005-02-19T02:30:00.000-08:00

Simenon began working on a local newspaper at age 16, and at 19 he went to Paris determined to be a successful writer. Typing some 80 pages each day, he wrote, between 1923 and 1933, more than

Pacific, War Of The

2005-02-18T17:33:00.000-08:00

Spanish Guerra Del Pacífico (1879–83), conflict involving Chile, Bolivia, and Peru, which resulted in Chilean annexation of valuable disputed territory on the Pacific coast. It grew out of a dispute between Chile and Bolivia over control of a part of the Atacama Desert that lies between the 23rd and 26th parallels on the Pacific coast of South America. The territory contained valuable mineral resources, particularly

Petah Tiqwa

2005-02-17T21:08:00.000-08:00

City, west-central Israel, on the Plain of Sharon, east-northeast of Tel Aviv-Yafo and part of that city's metropolitan area. Situated in the valley of Achor near the Yarqon River, the city takes its name (meaning “Door of Hope”) from the biblical allusion in Hosea 2:15: “ . . . and make the valley of Achor a door of hope.” Petah Tiqwa was the first village (founded 1878) in the modern Jewish settlement

Savoy, House Of

2005-02-17T17:15:00.000-08:00

Italian Savoia, French Savoie, historic dynasty of Europe, the ruling house of Italy from 1861 to 1946. During the European Middle Ages the family acquired considerable territory in the western Alps where France, Italy, and Switzerland now converge. In the 15th century, the house was raised to ducal status within the Holy Roman Empire, and in the 18th century it attained the royal title (first of the kingdom of Sicily,

Spotlight

2005-02-17T16:06:00.000-08:00

Device used to produce intense illumination in a well-defined area in stage, film, television, ballet, and opera production. It resembles a small searchlight but usually has shutters, an iris diaphragm, and adjustable lenses to shape the projected light. Coloured light is produced by a mechanism for sliding or rotating coloured gelatin filters, called gels even though

Gairdner, Lake

2005-02-16T16:34:00.000-08:00

Largest of a group of shallow depressions west of Lake Torrens in central South Australia, 240 mi northwest of Adelaide. It measures 100 mi (160 km) long by 30 mi wide. Lying at the base of the Eyre Peninsula, the lake is a dry salt pan (playa) intermittently filled with water. Visited in 1857 almost simultaneously by Stephen Hack and Peter E. Warburton, it is named after Gordon Gairdner, former

1945--a Watershed Year

2005-02-16T00:37:00.000-08:00

The Test.--The first atomic bomb in the history of mankind was exploded at 5:30 A.M. on July 16, 1945, at the Alamogordo air base in the desert 120 mi. southeast of Albuquerque, N.M. The bomb had been placed on a tall steel tower while scientists and military experts occupied

Hound's-tongue

2005-02-15T18:32:00.000-08:00

Two purplish-red-flowered, European species of hound's-tongue, C. officinale and C. germanicum, are widespread along roadsides

Barari Ghat, Battle Of

2005-02-15T04:12:00.000-08:00

(Jan. 9, 1760), in Indian history, one of a series of Afghan victories over the Marathas in their war to gain control of the decaying Mughal Empire, which gave the British time in which to consolidate their power in Bengal. At the Barari Ghat (Ferry Station) of the Jumna (now Yamuna) River, 10 miles (16 km) north of Delhi, the Maratha chief Dattaji Sindhia, retreating from the Punjab before the Afghan

Tsonga

2005-02-14T05:24:00.000-08:00

The Tsonga were formerly organized as independent peoples, each occupying its own territory and named for a powerful, dominant patrilineage. Early

Ibis

2005-02-13T22:50:00.000-08:00

Any of about 20 species of medium-sized wading birds constituting the subfamily Threskiornithinae of the family Threskiornithidae (order Ciconiiformes), which also includes the spoonbills. Ibises occur in all warm regions except on South Pacific islands. They wade in shallow lagoons, lakes, bays, and marshes, using their slender, down-curved bills to feed on small

Murmansk

2005-02-13T19:31:00.000-08:00

Formerly (until 1917) Romanov-na-murmane, seaport and centre of Murmansk oblast (administrative region), northwestern Russia, lying 125 mi (200 km) north of the Arctic Circle, and on the eastern shore of Kola Bay, 30 mi from the ice-free Barents Sea. The town, founded in 1915 as a supply port in World War I, was a base for the British, French, and American expeditionary forces against the Bolsheviks in 1918. In World War II Murmansk served

Ogaki

2005-02-13T14:41:00.000-08:00

City, Gifu ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, on the Ibi River. The site was settled in prehistoric times, but the present city developed around the castle built in 1535. Since the end of the Meiji period (1868–1912), Ogaki has become a textile and chemical centre aided by abundant groundwater. Machinery is also produced, and rice is grown in the environs. In Ogaki Park are the reconstructed castle,

Feldspar

2005-02-12T13:43:00.000-08:00

Of the more than 3,000 known mineral species, less than 0.1 percent make up the bulk of the Earth's crust and mantle. These and an

Pollard, Fritz

2005-02-12T07:13:00.000-08:00

Byname of Frederick Douglass Pollard, Sr. pioneering African American player and coach in American collegiate and professional gridiron football. He was the first African American selected to a backfield position on Walter Camp's All-America team (1916) and the first African American head coach in the National Football League (NFL), with the Akron Pros

U-2 Affair

2005-02-11T18:12:00.000-08:00

On May 5 the Soviet premier Nikita S. Khrushchev told the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R. that

Performing Arts, Nontheatrical Films.

2005-02-11T02:21:00.000-08:00

Austrian filmmaker Kurt Mundl (Power of the Earth Productions) in 1998 created an amazing film about butterflies and moths, The Messengers of the Gods--Butterflies. The 49-minute gem was made from 18,000 minutes of film patiently photographed using special lenses. New findings about behaviour were brought to life. It won many awards, including Best of Festival at Chicago's U.S. International

Alienation Effect

2005-02-10T23:21:00.000-08:00

Examples of such techniques include explanatory captions or illustrations projected

Mutanabbi, Al-

2005-02-10T03:31:00.000-08:00

Al-Mutanabbi was the son of a water carrier who claimed noble and ancient southern Arabian descent. Owing

Earth, Earthquakes

2005-02-09T11:23:00.000-08:00

Most Earth scientists believe that virtually all naturally produced earthquakes occur as a result of movements along faults. The reason that the majority of such earthquakes occur along plate boundaries is that most faults lie along those boundaries.

Animal Learning, Habituation

2005-02-09T09:37:00.000-08:00

A classic example of habituation is the following observation on the snail Helix albolabris. If the snail is moving along a wooden surface, it will immediately withdraw into its shell if the experimenter taps on the surface. It emerges after a pause, only to withdraw again if the tap is repeated. But continued repetition of the same tapping at regular intervals elicits